Monthly Archives: February 2014

In the Bibliothèque Municipale in Troyes, France, ms. 1897 is entitled “Vetus Eucologium” [1] This is a Book of Hours (‘Heures à l’usage de Meaux’), was written partly in Latin and partly in French and is dated towards the end of the 15th century; it may have originated in Paris.

On folio 48v in the border at left-hand, a somewhat stylised dextral snail may be seen, the head of the animal with two tentacles, an eye-spot, nostrils and the mouth closed; where it a human, it seems incontent with the situation. The coloration of the shell reminds me of a Cepaea-like garden snail.

During the course of the 17th century still-life painting more and more developed. Not only flowers, but also fruit, other food ingredients (here bread and oysters), and various objects (but also a snail!) can be seen on this oil painting of Abraham Mignon (1640–1679), who worked in Frankfurt am Main and in Utrecht [1]. This painting, now in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, was made during his Utrecht period (1660–1679). [2]

The snail that catches the eye, is quite traditionally moving around along the edge of the table, but is undoubtedly a Cepaea species.

Joris Hoefnagel was at the end of the 16th century a well-known artist who made in 1590 this drawing, entitled “Allegory of love in a trompe d’oeuil surrounded by flowers and animals”; the colour painting on vellum is now in an unknown private collection [1].

One of the animals shown is a land snail at the lower border, very precisely illustrated. The dextral snail has all the characteristics that suggest it to be a Cepaea species.

This manuscript is entitled “Les premieres Euvres de Jacques Devaulx, pillote en la marine” and is dated 1583 [1]. It is a treatise on how to navigate the globe and shows the insights and practical knowledge at that time. I also found a nice pictures showing the Americas, so here are blending my two worlds.

On f. 18r two decorated initials can be seen, one of which with a bird and one (letter ‘A’) with a stylised dextral snail. Where the animal comes out of the aperture, two protuberances are seen; they seem odd at least.

On folio 21r, the lower initial (letter ‘L’) is decorated with a hybrid devil pointing a lance (?) in the direction of the stylised, dextral snail with two tentacles and an eye-spot; again, at the aperture, two protuberances may be seen, which seem misplaced.

Despite the marine subject, the decorations are terrestrial and are reminiscences from earlier, religious manuscripts.

A flower still-life which is but a slight variation on the engraving seen in item #51, is this oil-painting on copper from Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573–1621). Bosschaert was born in Antwerp, but worked in Middelburg, Amsterdam, Bergen op Zoom, Utrecht and Breda [1]. This painting, probably from his Utrecht period, was last seen in Art gallery Van Haeften, London in 2002, and is dated on stylistic grounds 1618–1619. [2]

The snail on the left of the vase is undoubtedly a Cepaea species and is realistically painted.

Today another enamel object from the Walters Art Museum [1]. According to the description this object is Venus and Cupid. “Venus, bearing a torch, is represented nude except for a cape hung around her shoulders, together with her attending son, Cupid, who with his right hand covers the nudity of his mother. Both figures stand on a scroll base under a fanciful canopy flanked by two pairs of flaming hearts and two doves. Two other birds flutter above the smoke rising from the flaming hearts. At left and right are grotesque monsters and snails. Below the cartouche, two old winged satyrs squat obscenely. A globe is beneath them. At the top of the canopy is a grotesque cherub mask. Above the head of Venus is the signature I. C.”. It was made by Jean de Court around 1560 in Limoges (France).

The two snails are stylised and mirror-imaged. One of the snails is dextral, the other sinistral.

In the German city of Nürnberg, a work of art can be found, where the snail has a modest, yet an important role. The most important piece of equipment in the pre-Reformation St. Sebald church is, without doubt, the tomb of the patron saint St. Sebald. The remains of the Holy Sebald have been around since the 14th century in Nuremberg in a silver shrine. By the end of the 15th century one decided to have prepared a housing made ​​of bronze to showcase the sumptuous shrine in the church. The external structure of the tomb was cast in bronze during 1508–1519 by Peter Vischer the Elder in collaboration with his sons Peter the Younger and Hermann. The design is generally attributed to the same. Many of the figures that adorn the St. Sebald (including scenes from the Life of St. Sebald, Tritone, satyrs, a Pegasus and the woman looks at itself as a symbol of vanity in the mirror), a direct model in drawings by Jacopo de ‘ Barbari as Paul Johanneis noticed. De Barbari was three years as a royal court painter in Nürnberg. Above all, the symbol of vanity found at the beginning of the 16th Century, making their first appearance in Germany, as quoted in St. Sebald. The St. Sebald tomb is considered as an early example of the reception of forms of the Italian Renaissance north of the Alps [1]

The tomb of St. Sebald is supported by twelve snails, all somewhat stylised, with dextral shells (as far as visible), and directed to the right-hand side. I also found close-ups of two of the snails [2], which prove to be slightly different in the shape of their shells.

Copies of this tomb are in London (Victoria and Albert Museum) and Moscow (Puhskin Museum; without snails).

In an earlier post (item #42), I showed an engraving from Jacob Kempener which might have inspired early painters of flower still-lives at the beginning of the 17th century. Today’s engraving evolved from the previous one, and is dated ca. 1590–1595. It is designed by Kempener and engraved by Johann Theodor de Bry (1561–1623) in Frankfurt am Main; it was part of the series “Polyptoton de Flore”. [1]

The snail on the left side of the vase with flowers is seen on its back, with only the two larger tentacles shown. On the shell darker spiral bands may be seen at the periphery and below the suture. This suggests that a Cepaea species was used. The shell seems sinistral, but assumed to be the result of mirror-imaging due of engraving.
In this case I would dub the snail as ‘semi-stylised’, as snails are not as course as we have seen in earlier works though not as precise as we’ll see in later ones.

Manuscript Royal 10 E IV is one of the items listed in Randall [1], hence I was curious to see it. It is known as the Decretals of Gregory IX with glossa ordinaria (the ‘Smithfield Decretals’) and originated in southern France during the last quarter of the 13th century or early 14th century.

Folio 45r is a bas-de-page scene of a man and a large snail. The man has a big club in his hand, but it is not raised and it seems as if he withholding himself. The snail is disproportionally big, stylised, with all four tentacles and a sinistral shell. An example of the ‘frightening snail’ theme.

Folio 107r has the ‘knight v. snail’ theme where I was looking for. The knight defends himself with his shield against one of the two largest tentacles, which acts a lance. The snail of monstrous proportions has also two small tentacles, but is otherwise stylised and has a sinistral shell. The whole scene is yet another variant of the ‘frightening snail’ theme.

Folio 107v shows on the lower part two running snails together with a stag (an adult male deer). The snails are both stylised, one with two tentacles only and an eye-spot, the other with two larger and two smaller tentacles, eating from a leave. Both shells are dextral.

Notes:
[1] Randall, L.C. (1962). The snail in Gothic marginal warfare. Speculum 37: 358–367. Several of the mss. listed in her work are not available online unfortunately.
[2] BLL, Ms. Royal 10 E IV, 314ff. http://bit.ly/KXxKu2 (25.i.2014).

The Book of Hours “Heures de Menault de La Salle à l’usage de Reims” in the Bibliothèque Municipal in Reims (France) was made around 1480, either in that city or in Paris. [1]

In the lower border of folio 30r a stylised, sinistral snail may be seen with an apparently ribbed shell. Its rather shapeless body has four tentacles. The miniature shows the Virgin Mary with the Child.